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Are you a Single Parent and Dating again or are you considering dating as a single parent? Do you wander how long to wait after the divorce? Do you want to know what to tell your kids and when? Should you only date people who also have kids and are single parents? How will the kids respond, what will they say, what will they feel and think? What about intimacy, how does that work with kids? What about living together?

These and other topics are addressed in this short but powerful, straight to the point book called, “Single Parent And Dating: an Adventures in Single Parents Book”This short book is one of several books in the “Adventures in Single Parenting” series that includes such titles as “Teens, Alcohol and Drugs”, “Teens and Sex”, “Teens and Driving”, And of course, the main book, “Adventures in Single Parenting” and its companion journal. All of these books are available at http://singleparenting.us/products-page/.

To celebrate the release of the new book, “Single Parent and Dating” I am offering a free copy of the PDF file for anyone who wants one. Simply go to my website http://singleparenting.us” and fill out the form on the right with your name and e mail address and I will send you a complimentary copy.

If you wish to purchase either a Kindle copy or a paperback copy of “Single Parent and Dating” simply click on the link and it will take you to the book page of my website. Here you may purchase any book in the series.As usual, my wish for you is that your children grow up happy, healthy and are positive contributors to society. Until we talk again, this is Len.

This video explains how to start an online store. It is really very easy to start your very own online store and sell products from Amazon, E Bay and Commission Junction. This video explains the process. It reviews a product called covert store builder and shows how to install it on your own website and build your own on line store in a very few, very simple steps.

Single parenting is one of the most common end results of a failed marriage. For many people, it might seem simple, perhaps even a relief to start a new life and raise their kids after an ended marriage. After all, the marriage ended because it was stressful, probably negative, argumentative and perhaps even violent.

However, for some new single parents, it is difficult to achieve a balance. There are many different factors that come into play, not the least of which is different personalities, upbringing and ways of managing stress brought by the failure of the marriage.

Frequently new single parents are frightened and stressed and have concerns about their own adequacy, feel lonely, abandoned, and overwhelmed. Financial issues may also wreck havoc on the newly single parent. We all want the same thing, what is best for our children. But, and it is a big but, it is hard to focus on the needs of the kids if we as parents are scared, overwhelmed or depressed.

If you think that separation and the thought of being a single parent hinders your ability to move on, it’s now time to consider ways that can help you overcome your fears and will pave the way for successful single parenting.

Focusing on the basics

The desire to be a good parent is instinctive to all parents. However, this innate concern for their kids and raising them well may be affected by the events that have occurred in their lives. Their experiences may hinder them to focus on the needs of their children since they cannot help themselves to overcome their problems in life.

Although painful experiences such as separation greatly affect good parenting, there are always ways to overcome these problems and move on.

Let Go Of The Past

The first thing that you can do is let the past go. Experts say that the first step to be an effective single parent is to deal with depression caused by separation. By learning to let go of the past, you can accept that there are things that are beyond your control. Once you have accepted this, you will be able to forgive yourself and prepare yourself to be a successful single parent. You cannot change the past, you can only live in the now and prepare for the future. Easier said than done sometimes, this piece may require counseling.

Pace Yourself

Next best thing to do is to try to set your own pace. Although it is sometimes good for others to have fast recovery to be able to forget their problems, this is not always healthy says experts because it is only a “band-aid” solution. Some people who face the reality of becoming single parents try hard to move on by drowning themselves in work. This may work in the beginning but is not conducive to achieving long term goals. It is also not good for the kids if their only remaining parent is so absorbed in work as to have not time to rebuild the family relationships.
Eventually, the person who tries so hard to face the challenges of single parenting may burn out and become completely ineffective.

To be an effective single parent, it is best if you set your own pace so you won’t get tired. This will also be beneficial for you because you can rest whenever you want to since nobody is breathing down your neck to do things you are not ready to do.

And remember, the time you spend with your kids is more productive than the time you spend cleaning the house. Successful Single parenting may require you to modify some of your standards in order to fit in those things that truly matter.

Plan Ahead

Lastly, the best way to be successful in single parenting is to always think one step ahead and be positive. Since you will raise the child on your own, it would be best to plan ahead so you will be able to accomplish goals ahead of time. By doing this, you will have more opportunities to do things properly, feel less stress and have more time to spend with your child (or children).

As usual, my wish for you is that your children grow up healthy, happy and are positive contributors to society.

This video discusses how single parents can achieve a work from home lifestyle such as the one I have been able to achieve. It discusses some ideas for working from home such as blogging, internet marketing,and network marketing and points the direction for further resources. There are no “get rich quick schemes” but there are plenty of ways to supplement income working from home.

Today’s topic is teens and driving.. In the time it took me to say that, a teenager was injured in an automobile accident. In the next couple of hours, a teenager will die in the United States. Seven teenagers a day die in automobile crashes in the United States and another 770 approximately are injured.

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among 15 to 20-year-olds. Sixteen-year-olds have a higher crash rate than drivers of any other age. Conssymroycupo . Given the dangers of driving, is it any wonder that teens and driving creates more heartburn amongst more parents than any other topic?

A Real Danger for Teens Driving

Think about it! Your child is in very real danger. Just like a two-year-old running on a busy freeway, your child is in real danger. And not just the danger of being hurt, injured, killed, but also the enormous financial risks involved. Cars aren’t cheap. Crazaberamer Gas is expensive. Insurance costs money. Liability is an issue. Your child goes off and hurts or kills somebody else, you’re facing lawsuits that may drag on for many, many years and really have a significant impact on your lifestyle.

So all of that is my way of saying, I’d like to introduce you to a new book. It’s called “Teens and Driving”. It’s an Adventures in Single Parenting book. It’s one of a series of short books in my Adventures in Single Parenting series and it’s available on Amazon. It’s available in Kindle format. It’s available from several other publishers, so you can get it in paperback, you can get it in Kindle, and it’s a very short book but it covers a lot of the statistics about teens and driving. It covers a lot of the issues concerning teens and driving.

Driving While Distracted

Today we have to worry texting while driving. We have to worry about cell phone use, programming a navigation system, and all kinds of other distractions. The book offers an insight into the world of teens and driving and it also offers a fair amount of suggestions for you as a parent to enable you to make the relevant choices that you need to make in order to ensure, or at least to help, promote the safety in driving and help ensure that your child won’t become one of those awful, ugly, black statistics that are so prevalent out there in the world of teens and driving today.

So once again, “Teens and Driving, an Adventures in Single Parenting book”. You can go to my website http://singleparenting.us, click on products, and it will take you to a page that gives you all of the books available in the series. My wish for you is that your children grow up happy, healthy, and are positive contributors to society. I’m here to help you get there. This is Len, we’ll talk again. Bye for now.

Hello my friends. This is Len Mooney, author of “Adventures in Single Parenting” and creator of the website “http://SingleParenting.us“. I want to welcome you to this video. Today, I’m coming to you from sunny Cozumel. We’re looking at the Caribbean Sea behind us, got some cruise ships out there. We’ve been here for a week scuba diving every day. Today, we’re going on a tour of the island.

Hello from the Deep Blue Sea

Here I am again, waving to you from underneath the water around Cozumel. I thought I’d give you a look at what it’s like to be scuba diving out there. I’ve lived my life with travel and adventure. I like to scuba dive, snow ski, water ski, hike, backpack, camp, sail. I taught my kids to do almost all those things when they were growing up. They went snow skiing with me and water skiing. Crazaberamer They went camping and backpacking, hiking. We did a lot of things. I did a lot of things with the kids. I was a stay-at-home dad; I worked from home.

Lifestyle and Financial Stress

I know many of you are stressed financially, and that’s why I want to talk to you about lifestyle. With the internet today, there’s a plethora of ways that you can earn additional money working from home, and I’d like to help you get there. You can have the lifestyle that you dream of. There are ways to do it, whether it’s backpacking, camping, scuba diving, sailing, water skiing, snow skiing, or whether it’s just staying at home being with the kids, being there for their parent-teacher conferences, being there for their doctors’ appointments, being there when they’re sick, being there when they’re healthy, being there when they need you, being there when they don’t, and just enjoying the life that you want to enjoy on your terms. You can do it.

What is the Solution?

What I’d like you to do is check out a couple of things. On my single parenting website, http://SingleParenting.us, there’s a link that says Work from Home; it’s a video. It’s about 30-minutes long, and it goes through a number of different things that you can do to earn additional money from home. Conssymroycupo . It’s totally free of charge; you’re not going to get a bill. I’d like you to go watch it if any of this is of interest to you. The other place you can go is to my marketing website, http://LenMooney.com. There’s a link there that says Work with Len. You can click on that to learn more about other business opportunities that you might be interested in which you can join with me, partner with me, work with me, and earn additional money working from home.

No Get Rich Quick Schemes

Once again, no matter what lifestyle you want to achieve, the internet provides a way for you to do it. There are no get-rich-quick schemes, but we can learn working together how to earn additional income for you.

This is Len. As usual, my wish for you is that your children grow up happy, healthy, and are positive contributors to society. We’ll talk again. Click on the links below. Go check out the opportunities. Looking is free. Bye for now.

Today’s show features Theresa Key, an Internet marketer and former single mom. As a single parent Theresa had a child who was diagnosed with ADHD and she researched and became an expert in using Section 504 of the rehabilitation act to insure her child was treated fairly in the education system.

As a work at home mom (WAHM) Theresa is an Internet marketing solutions coach and founder of Key Solutions Experience, a boutique consulting firm in Los Angeles. She works with writers, authors, content developers, Internet marketing experts, personal development and transformational leaders and motivational speakers.

Theresa is also an IT consultant specializing in IT for small and medium-sized business process improvement and tech training. She got a MS in education and earned her bachelor’s while she was a single parent from UCLA. She enjoys helping groups and individuals tap into their strengths and create solutions to their business and personal challenges.

Welcome to Theresa Key. Theresa, are you there?

Theresa: Yes I am, good morning, Len, how are you?

Len: Good morning Theresa, I am marvelous and how are you today?

Theresa: Excellent, excellent, I’m just excited to be here. Thank you for inviting me.

I’ve earned my stripes

Len: Welcome. Well, I am excited to have you. So let’s get started. So right now you’re married with three wonderful children, but you were a single parent for eight years.

Theresa: Yes. I’ve earned my stripes. Yes

Len: You’ve earned your stripes. So do you want to talk a little bit about your single parent experience. Tell us, what are some of your fondest memories and what are some of your scariest moments?

Single Parenting and attending college at the same time

Theresa: You mentioned in introducing me that I was a single parent, and I was actually going through undergraduate at the time. I was a single parent at UCLA, and I had my son with me. And I think one of my fondest memories is of being a single parent on a college campus, was the fact that I would go to campus and go to class with my little two year old running around, and my three year old, at the time.

And I remember sitting outside of a lecture hall, probably 500 people in there, and I’m sitting outside with the door cracked open, I’m taking notes and so my son just decides he’s going not only walk in, but run down the aisle and go meet the professor. So moments like that, things that you can’t control are some of my fondest memories.

And then some of my scariest memories would probably be, just that feeling of overwhelm, not knowing what you’re going to do or how to handle certain situations because you’re basically on your own and you have to figure it out, so I had, I remember I would always laugh with my friends about using an 800 number. You know, I needed an 800 number for myself sometimes, just to call, emergency to help me figure things out, but, you know, he’s an adult now so it’s obvious that we made it.

Len: I absolutely can’t imagine going to school and being a student at the same time that I was a single parent. It’s just beyond my comprehension. How did you fair financially through those times and how did you support yourself?

Theresa: That’s a very good question. One of the things that I fell naturally into was being an entrepreneur. So I found myself going to local businesses and doing things for them, like at that time, it was considered typesetting or graphic design and production. When Apple initially first came out with the desktop computers, I was doing graphic design for people, desktop publishing, helping them get organized with that. And I would just pick up odd jobs just to string things together. Because of course, you have to be in class and you can’t really work full time.

I also took time off. I bit the bullet and I took time off from school and the great thing about that was it gave me a moment to literally mature and then come back to school, where I just kicked butt, you know, and got all A’s and things like that. It really was a maturation process for me as well.

Len: So you talked about having jobs and going to employers and doing graphic design and things like that and while you were saying that I had this vision of a little two-year-old whirlwind, racing around in circles around the desk while you’re trying to do graphic design.

Theresa: Literally, yes.

Len: Is that an accurate vision?

Dealing with ADHD

Theresa: That is definitely on point. My son was very, very active, and as a matter of fact, he was literally misdiagnosed with the common, the now too common, ADHD, but he was very, very active, he was very, very smart, and his diagnosis really helped me to kind of get involved more in education. It started me really thinking about education because I had to actually become his advocate.

Len: Well, that’s really an interesting area, maybe we can explore that just a little bit. I suspect a lot of my listeners out there have children that have been diagnosed or misdiagnosed as ADHD. It seems to be a term we toss around a lot. If the kids overactive, he must be ADHD. I certainly would have been diagnosed as that. If they had such a thing.

Theresa: I think we’re all a little ADHD. Right. I think we’ve all got a little bit of that.

Len: I know that I am. Well, what did you have to do to advocate for your child?

Theesa: Well, it was an interesting process and now that I look back on it, I’m laughing and smiling and I’m excited but back than I was crying and I was really scared because I didn’t understand the process. And at that time, the main thing that I wanted to make sure that he had an appropriate education, that he could be a part of the regular classroom environment and that he would get an assessment and really find out where

his strengths were and where we could help him improve.

Working with Individualized Education Planning (IEP)

And one of the things I discovered in that process, it was called the IEP process, which stands for Individualized Education Planning Process, and it’s specifically designed for students who are, may have the potential to be in a special education environment. Fortunately, he didn’t qualify for special education; however, there is a federal law, section 504 of the Americans with Disabilities Act, protects students who may have slight, quote unquote, disabilities or differences, outside of what they consider and average.

So for example, someone who is really, really intelligent may learn differently, or they may not be able to sit in class and just kind of sit there all day for an extended period of time, they may have to get up and move or they may have to sit in the front of the room. All of these are called accommodations, and one of the things that I really wanted was to make sure that my son was not going to be in any type of special needs environment, that while in the regular classroom environment, his needs were being met. So it was really a challenge. It really was a challenge at that time.

Len: It sounds like, it sounds like you also rose to the challenge and really met it very appropriately. Your son is now grown and he’s doing okay.

Every Little Step, Reflections of a Parent’s Special Needs Journey

Theresa: Yeah, yeah, he’s doing great. He’s a brilliant, young man, and I’m very excited for him and for his future. And as a result, my reflections, I have a new book coming out called, “Every Little Step, Reflections of a Parent’s Special Needs Journey”. So I’m very excited about that and my opportunity to tell this story.

Len: Your new book, you said it’s coming out, so it’s not available yet.

Theresa: It’s not available yet, it’s coming out at the beginning of the year. And it’s called, “Every Little Step”.

Len: Oh, okay.

Theresa: It’s more or less the ins and outs from the parent perspective of how you really begin to approach the subject of testing and all the things that can happen and just things to be aware of as a parent.

Len: Okay. So when you, if you reflect back into those years of being a single parent and having this little whirlwind two year old racing around, well I suppose he wasn’t two years old when he was diagnosed with ADHD, but nevertheless, this little whirlwind racing around, what was your biggest fear? What kept you awake at night?

The Single Parent’s Biggest Fear

Theresa: Hm. Wow, you’re coming out with the gloves, huh, Len?

Len: Well, I didn’t mean to be.

Theresa: Let’s see, [Laughs] yes. Let’s see, my biggest fear that kept me up at night was not really, feeling like I didn’t know what was going to happen next. Because, let’s be honest, when we get married, or even as we’re growing up, we have this vision of a big wedding, and we think we’re going to do all these wonderful things, and going to find Prince Charming or Princess Charming, and what happens is, life may take another turn and then you’re left feeling like something is missing.

Well, you don’t necessarily have to feel that way. As I’m thinking back, but then I was thinking I failed and I’ve really messed up and there’s nothing I can do, just completely kind of devastated. But at the same time, I was determined to kind of figure it out. A lot of single parents in the media, single parents get a bad rap. Or a lot of single moms and single fathers as well get a bad rap, for the reason why the kids are writing on the walls and doing all the wrong things in the world. And that’s simply not true.

It’s simply not true. There are some wonderful individuals that just happen to be parents, and they just literally have to get organized and focus and figure it out so that they can introduce a lifestyle for their children and introduce values and love and the things that really matter. So the scariest thing for me was just really feeling out of sorts and not really knowing, but then settling down and saying I can do this.

Len: . . . a lot of, yeah, I think a lot of single parents have that, oh my god, have that fear of oh my god, what am I going to do, how am I going to get through this, the fear of not being able to pay the bills, not being able to do the right thing for your children. It was certainly part of my fear set as a single parent.

Theresa: Mm-hmm.

Len: So, hey well let’s just take a real quick break here and identify who we are what we’re doing and when I come back, you’ve actually raised two families over a long period of time. I’d like to flash forward a little bit and talk about what’s going on today and what you see is the, oh some of the major differences between raising kids, say, you know, how long ago did you have your eight year old, or did you have your two year old, rather? It’s 15 years ago?

Theresa: That was in the, yeah, that was in the 90’s, so yeah.

Len: So, what do you see as some of the major differences between raising kids then and raising kids today and, let me come back to you in just a moment, okay?

Theresa: Okay, sounds good.

Single Parent Challenges for 2013

Len: So this is Adventures in Single Parenting, Blog Talk radio. And to learn more about Adventures in Single Parenting, you can go to my website http://singleparenting.us. And click on my blog and you can also find a link to my latest book, second edition of “Adventures in Single Parenting” is now available in print.

So I’m back now with Therese Key, so Theresa, let’s fast forward a little bit and explore some of the differences between raising kids today and raising kids, say 10 or 15 years ago. What do you see as some of the major differences?

Theresa: Wow, that is a, that’s a huge question. Well, the technology piece that we experience every day, our smartphones and our iPads and things like that, that is really making a huge difference in how we parent. The media, the music, everything that’s going on, just kind of like, exposure, the kids that I have now, the young kids that I have now, they are more or less overexposed, or they’re constantly exposed to things that my son wasn’t exposed to until probably he was in high school.

So, now, I think communication is important, the child may be six. You’re going to have to have a conversation with the child that you may have had, you know, you heard your parents sit you down and have the conversation. Well, you may have to have the conversation with your 10 year old. So, and it’s something that is just a, because we are in, the things that are going on in the world, we see everything in real time.

It’s a YouTube kind of world where as soon as someone sees it, they capture it on the camera, it’s uploaded, and now you’ve got a million views of whatever just went down. And the kids literally have access to this information at school. They get tablets and they have access to the computer. Some of the kids, they don’t bother trying to break in and change passwords and hack into the technology, but others do.

So these are things that parents need to be aware of, they can’t necessarily go and turn, tell everyone I’m going to bed and turn on YouTube and think that your kid is safe. You can’t do that. YouTube is just a big virtual smorgasbord of information, good, bad and ugly and if you believe that you can just tune out and believe that your kids can be on your phone, on your iPad or on your, even on the TV, because a lot of the flat screen TV’s connect to the Internet and if the access it there, they’re just going to be overexposed. So these are the challenges of raising young kids right now in 2013.

Len: Yeah, I think those challenges are absolutely huge, and I agree with you, and let me come back, you mentioned having a conversation, I assume you’re thinking about a conversation about things like sex, or about drugs with kids and the need to have those conversations at a much younger age than we might have years ago because the information is readily available, and the misinformation is so readily available. I assume that’s what you’re thinking about. And I agree with you.

Theresa: Yeah, especially, I like what you just said, Len, about the misinformation, because just because we see something online or on video doesn’t mean that it’s real. and people forget that things can be staged, it can be a complete fake. I know you’ve seen it maybe on Facebook where someone will report a story that’s completely false. But because we see it going through the stream, people are like, ‘Oh my god, that’s horrible’ and you know, it’s not real.

Len : Right. That’s absolutely correct, in fact, you’re reminding me, I hope you don’t mind, I’m going to tell a very quick story from my own experience. It reminded me of my daughter, whom I was sitting down with having a conversation about sex and protection, etc., when she was in her early teens, she told me, ‘Dad, you can’t get pregnant if you only do it once.’

Theresa: Right.

Len: And I’m going, well where’s this piece of information come from?

Theresa: Right.

Dating and the Single Parent

Len: Yeah, yeah. It was just amazing to me. So tell me, when you were a single parent, did you date?

Theresa: I did, yes. I dated when I could, I juggled my schedule and I had a wonderful set of sitters to watch my son. I don’t believe at that time I introduced him to to many of my, just my friends in general, because he was very active, I didn’t think I should take him everywhere, but when I special date or something like that, I had support. So it’s really important to get support. That was just really kind of a blessing in disguise.

Len: So you didn’t find that the dating had a significant impact on your child? You sort of kept him out of that picture completely.

Theresa: Yeah. I didn’t date really seriously until I actually met my husband, and we were participating in athletics with my son. So I put my son in football and he was able to come out and participate and watch and help me and then things worked out. Things worked out really well. So I really recommend dating for single parents. Don’t just hide in the closet and don’t date and don’t just give up. Just try to schedule it and make sure that, I would actually say protect your children from your dating. How about that? I’ll put that out there.

Len: Okay. Yeah.

Theresa: Because it’s not really something that you have to introduce your child too every week, you know. I’m dating this new guy, you can’t do that.

Len: The date du jour?

Theresa: Right, the date du jour, yeah.

Len: You can’t introduce him to the date du jour, yeah.

Theresa: Right.

Len: Okay. Yeah. So, did you every play around with online media, like dating sites like match.com or anything to find dates? What would you recommend to single women who are out there today?

Theresa: You know what, I believe, I think I went on one of those sites once, but it really, after a while, you’re like, okay, I have a list, I know who I want. Maybe he’s in this database. Nowadays, they’ve gone through a lot of screening, they’ve gotten a lot of bumps out of the process, the dating sites are kind of cool now. You can meet really nice people and you can really laser focus the type of person you want to meet and they’ll connect you.

But you also have to look at the credibility of the dating site. Is it just something that just looks like someone just threw it together? Don’t sign up for that. But the established names like maybe match.com or the other ones, they have national commercials right now where the guy, the actual founder of the company, he’s sitting with all the couples that got married, I forget the name of it, but the sites that are real and they actually work. Those are good sites.

You can also, if you’re not afraid of losing any friends and if it doesn’t work out, you can rely on referrals, people introducing you to other people. I think overall, and I don’t know in your experience, Len, overall, don’t you agree that it’s important to stay somewhat social as a single parent, even though you’re juggling?

Len: Oh, I think so, absolutely. To the best you can. But I found out also that the Brady Bunch works out much better on television than it does in real life. Integrating together families and children, it was really horrendously difficult.

Theresa: Yeah, yeah. It’s not an easy task. Either way it goes, you have to literally figure it out. So, yeah.

Single Parents Working From Home

Len:

So wow, you’ve been down the road, you’ve been a single parent. You’ve been a student while you’re a single parent. You’ve worked at home, you’ve worked many different jobs.

Let me give you an opportunity to talk a little bit to our listeners about your thoughts about single parents working from home. Is that realistic in today’s world and what do you offer, your services, what do you offer to single parents that can help them, perhaps, generate a little extra cash? I mean I know that, we all know that, single parents many times are financially stressed. So, what advice would you offer? Tell us about you and your services.

Theresa: Yeah, thank you. That’s actually an excellent question. Can single parents work from home? Definitely. I think we’re moving into a type of society where everyone is selling. We’re selling something. We’re either selling ourselves, we’re selling ideas, we’re selling something. And even if you’re like the PTA leader at your child’s school, you’re going to have to sell the rest of the parents on whey they need to work with you.

So, yes, as we move into kind of Internet world and we’ve got access to technology, I think single parents have it, I think they have a great opportunity to make money from home. Is it easy? No. In the sense that you have to sit down and figure out a game plan of what it is you want to do, and then you have to actually figure out what it’s going to cost you to learn to do what you want to do, if you haven’t learned it already, and then you have to go ahead and implement it.

Single parents don’t have a lot of time, we don’t have time, I didn’t have time, but when I was working my way through school, taking odd jobs as an independent, I literally sat down and researched how to become an independent contractor. I also decided that I wanted to file a DBA. I had to sit and learn what that was, you know what is that process? What is a DBA? Why do I need a business license, or why do I need a bank account to set up my business and what is all that about?

So all of that is the education process. Every single parent has this as an option and you know, now, all they need is a laptop, an iPad, or some type of device to communicate with their customers and they’re in business. Back then, you had to do a lot of paperwork, paper shuffling and driving around. But now, I think, single parents have options.

And as far as my coaching, I tend to coach new Internet marketers or those that have kind of been in the industry on how to tap into what they already know. My big thing about establishing Key Solution Experience, was the fact that I saw people who’d been working, they work a job, or they have a career in mind, and then they put all that on hold, the thing that they’re most passionate about, they put it on hold, and then they say, I’m going to focus on my daily tasks at work. I’m not going to do my side gig, my side idea, or the thing that makes me happy.

Well, you know, the funny thing about me working in corporate is anyone that had an idea, a big idea, and they wanted to do something. We would use our lunchtime to actually map it out and really be going to Kinko’s at the time, or making copies, or doing things like that. Doing side projects to earn additional income and having fun at the same time.

So, single parents, it’s a stressful-type thing because you’re wearing so many hats, but you can become an entrepreneur, take time to learn what it is you need to do, and then you can start seeing progress. You can start seeing additional income coming in. So I would recommend it to anybody. I’m a total advocate for single parents becoming entrepreneurs.

Len: Now, when you go on Facebook these days, and other social media you see lots of ads, for you know, ‘Buy my system here and you’ll make $10,000. I made $10,000 the first month and you can do it too. Here’s how you do it, sign up here.’ What would you say about those kinds of ads? Do you have any comments about that?

Theresa: Yeah. I would say, look at the ad, and take note on this guys. Look at that ad and look at what makes it work. Look at how the headline works, look at what they’re saying and the bonuses, the bullet points or the benefits. And make sure that they have a return policy and know that policy.

Len: Are there any get rich quick schemes out there?

Theresa: Of course. Yes. I mean, the Internet is a smorgasbord of information and people are selling information. They’re not seeking results, so the results only come with hard work. They only come when you take a strategy that they’re going to give away. There’s tons of free information out there. You can take a strategy, go implement it and create your own results. When someone says to you, I made $100,000 a month and you can too, there is some fact there, and then there’s something that’s designed to get you excited so that you click the button.

The fact is, let’s say they did make $100,000 a month, you may have to make an investment to find out a little bit about how they did it. And I say in all honestly, a little bit about how they did, because it’s going to require more work to find out the full, the big picture of how it’s done. So, yes, the money online is real. The money, there are people that take advantage of that, though, so you have to be careful.

Len: Okay. We’re in our final minutes, so I want to give you a chance to tell our listeners how they can get in touch with you if they want to learn more about how they can work with Theresa.

Theresa: OK. Well, if you want to get in touch with me, to learn more about becoming an entrepreneur online, or if you would like personal coaching, you can reach me at www.meetTkey.com. That’s M-E-E-T–T-K-E-Y-.COM. And I’m also, since I’m very involved in social media, I’m also on Facebook, on LinkedIn and a couple other places. So you can Google me and we can be in touch and see if I can help you.

Len: Alright. Well, Theresa, it’s been a real pleasure. We have about 15 seconds left here and the show is over, so I want to thank you for being with me, and hope we can do it again sometime soon.

Theresa: Thanks so much, Len. It has been a pleasure.

Len: Alright, talk to you again. Bye, Theresa.

Theresa: Bye-bye.

Len: And that, ladies and gentlemen, wraps up our show for today. This is Len Mooney at Adventures in Single Parenting. And once again, you can get to my book and my blog and my website at http://singleparenting.us. Bye, for now.

This edition doesn’t directly replace the 1st edition in the sense that there is anything wrong with the 1st edition. It still works and is still our story so I am sticking to it. Rather several years have passed and in the world we live in, things change.

Some major changes in the 2nd edition are:

Updated information on the drugs of choice amongst teens

New chapter on sexting

New chapter on higher education

These and a myriad of minor changes and corrections are meant to reflect the trends in 2013 and offer up to date information for single parents (or, for that matter, all parents).

As usual , my wish for you is that your children grow up healthy, wealthy and happy and are positive contributors to society. I am here to help!

Hello my friends. This is Len Mooney, author of Adventures in Single Parenting and creator of the web site SingleParenting.us and welcome to this video. Today I want to talk about a topic that’s very tragic and very important and that is suicide amongst teenagers or teenage suicide. It may shock you to know that approximately once every two hours in the United States, a person between the ages of 15 and 24 accomplishes the ultimate act of killing themselves.

5000 Teenage Suicides per Year in the US alone

Approximately 5,000… and I’m going to say teenagers even though technically, of course, a 24 year old is not a teenager, but 15 to 24 year olds, approximately 5,000 kill themselves every year in the United States alone and there’s a lot more around the world. So there are approximately 5000 cases of teenage suicide each year in the United States alone. Now this is an incredible number and we as parents need to really be aware of what goes on.

Some Signs To Look For

Teenagers are especially vulnerable, they’re in a very difficult period of their time and they’re emotionally unstable. They’re brain isn’t completely developed yet. They haven’t developed all the life-coping skills that they’re going to need and hopefully have later on in life. It can be easy for them to reach the conclusion, especially with peer pressure, bullying, sextortion, and all the other things that can go on, it could be easy for them to reach the conclusion that they’re life isn’t worth living and they want to do something about it. Unfortunately, as I said, about 5,000 of them manage to do something about it every year.

Well first off, let’s start with what are some of the signs that a teenager may be contemplating suicide? Well, irritability obviously, depression, drug and alcohol use, any other mental disorders, bipolar, for example, making comments about not wanting to be around or not going to be around much longer, giving away possessions, stopping doing things that they normally like to do. Usually, teenagers will hint, they’ll let you know that something is going on and lots of times, and I’m going to admit that I was a little guilty of this at one point, lots of times we tend to think when they say something like, “Awe, I’m just going to go kill myself.” we think that they’re trying to just get attention and we brush it off.

Yes, They Need Attention

Well yes, they are trying to get attention. They’re sending a message and it is a deep message and an important message and the message is, “Not only am I trying to get attention, I really desperately need attention because I’m not feeling good about myself. I need help.” Well this is the time to step up to the plate rather than brush it off, to take it very seriously, to wrap your arms around that kid and say, “Honey, what’s bothering you? Let’s talk.” If necessary, intervene. Now, I’ve given you a couple links right below this video and in the written blog.

There’s one link to a Huffington Post article and another link to a list of signs and symptoms of suicide and suicide prevention and plus a phone number, a National Suicide Prevention hotline, that you could jump on the phone and call if you have a teen or know of a teen who you think might be contemplating suicide or might be in trouble. Suicide is a preventable thing and what it requires is for us to really take it seriously if we have a teenager who seems to be stressed.

By the way, divorce causes stress in all kids and especially teens . The suicide rate is elevated in divorced households especially amongst males. So this is something to be taken very seriously and my wish for you is, as always, is that your children grow up happy and healthy and are positive contributors to society and take a look at them, keep them safe. This is Len. sherrirhodesrte88.blogspot.com . That’s all for today. Bye for now.

EVERY YEAR there are approximately 10 youth suicides for every 100,000 youth.

EVERY DAY there are approximately 11 youth suicides.

EVERY 2 HOURS AND 11 MINUTES a person under the age of 25 completes suicide

How pervasive is the problem of youth suicide? Here’s a brief review of what national data tell us:

Suicide is the third leading cause of death for teens.

Suicide is second leading cause of death in colleges.

For every suicide completion, there are between 50 and 200 attempts.

CDC Youth Risk Survey: 8.5% of students in grades 9-12 reported a suicide attempt in the past year.

25% of high-school students report suicide ideation.

The suicide attempt rate is increasing for youths ages 10-14.

Suicide had the same risk and protective factors as other problem behaviors, such as drugs, violence, and risky sexual activities.

While a single suicide is a tragedy, it is estimated that for every adolescent who completes suicide, there are between 50 and 200 suicide attempts.

A recent survey of high-school students found that almost 1 in 5 had seriously considered suicide; more than 1 in 6 had made plans to attempt suicide; and more than 1 in 12 had made a suicide attempt in the past year.

Hello my friends. This is Len Mooney, author of Adventures in Single Parenting and creator of the website singleparenting.us, and welcome to this video. Today I’m sitting in my RV. I’m in Campland by the Bay in San Diego, if any of you know where that is. And it’s a pretty nice day out there. The sun is out now, just finally came out. It’s been overcast most of the day. It’s warming up, and it’s just beautiful. We’re right on Mission Bay in San Diego.

Today I’d like to talk to you about a topic that just came to my attention recently, and it’s called sexploitation or sextortion and it affects teens. It’s affecting a lot of teens, many more than you might imagine in the country, and it’s something that you need to be aware of.

Information About Sexting

In a prior video, or blog post, I talked about sexting and the second edition of my book, “Adventures in Single Parenting”, is about to be published and it has a chapter on sexting in it. Plus, my short Teens and Sex book which is available on Kindle has a chapter on sexting. So there are several sources that you can go to from me to learn more about sexting if you don’t know what it is. Sexting is the act of sending nude or explicit or compromising photos electronically usually using smart phones.

Sextortion May Start With a Male Friend

Well there’s a whole new arena to this thing called sexting. In some cases, it comes from a boyfriend who convinces the girl to send him a nude or compromised picture of herself and then exploits her by telling her if she doesn’t send more pictures or perhaps engage in other activities with him that he will publish those pictures on Facebook, Pinterest, wherever. And of course, she doesn’t want to, pardon the pun, expose herself, so she sometimes complies with requests. And the request may also come from his friends to send more pictures.

Predators are Stalking Kids

But the more insidious one is coming from predators online who are able to track down people who send or text compromising photos of themselves and extort them, and in some cases extort them for pornography, for personal reasons, et cetera. In the text below this video and in the text on my website I’ve given you a couple links to go to, one to an examiner.com article that talks about this situation and another to a list of recent headlines that talks about sextortion or sexploitation. It’s a serious thing, and we really need to be aware of it as parents and make sure our kids don’t get into the middle of it. And of course, if our kids do inadvertently get into it, they’re, in many cases, embarrassed or ashamed or afraid to come tell us, so it gets worse and worse and worse for the kid, especially if it’s a professional online who’s tracking them down.

Have a Cell Phone Contract

Now I’m a firm believer that every teenager who has a smart phone should also have a contract in place with their parents about what they are and are not allowed to do with that smart phone, and this is something that really needs to be discussed. And so I’ve also included a link to an example smart phone contract that you can have in place with your teenager and I highly recommend it.

Monitor Cell Phone Use

Well, just be aware that this exists. You are the parent. Monitor your teenager’s cell phone use. Take a look at their picture files. Take a look at their sent messages and their inbox and be sure there isn’t something going on here that you want to be involved in. And remind your teenagers that anything they do with their smart phone and put that message or a photo out to the world, that’s there forever. It’s not going to go away easily, and especially if it ends up on, say, Facebook, or some other social media.

Share this with Every Parent You Know

Well that’s all for today. If you like this video or consider it to be worthwhile, and I hope you do, share it with a friend. Go visit my website. The link is given to you. And I’ve also given you links below to my other video on sexting as well as to my books. I hope you find this information useful, and as usual my wish for you is that your children grow up to be happy, healthy, and productive members of society. We’ll talk again. This is Len. Bye for now.